9 days left

Hi, it’s Laura,

My blog, this year, is like that person you promised to call. A few days pass and you feel bad that you have not made the call. Then a week passes and you promise yourself you will do it this weekend. By the time two weeks have gone by, it’s just too awkward to make the call. I am making the awkward call today.

I think about what stories to tell every day but it has just been difficult to put fingers to keyboard these days. I do know the last I made an awkward call like this, it was received with open arms. Hoping for the same.

I am supposed to be keeping a journal of my training. You will have to trust me when I say I have been training. Long swims, long long runs and even longer bike rides. Just 9 days from race day and I am done done done. I am ready for race day up until I think about race day and then I get anxious. No matter laps or miles logged, apprehension always happens.

I had to look back at my blog entries to see where I left off in my stories. It's been longer than I thought. I have not written since the half marathon in June! I took off just one day after the half. It just happen to be my scheduled long run for the week. There is the triathlon to train for after-all. And from that point, two more months to go.

The best way to catch you up is to work backwards. At just 9 days out, I have my last brick today (bike followed immediately by a run). And this week, I completed my last long ride (20 miles). Just a note on the bike rides, my average bike ride these days is 90 min (20 miles). I do these twice a week. Add to these the occasional long ride scheduled periodically that has varied between 105 and 150 minutes (that has landed me somewhere between 30 & 35 miles depending on how I feel on the scheduled day). Last week was my last long swim (3000 yards which translates to 1.7 miles or 2743 meters). These last two weeks have been a bear. When I said earlier that I am “done” you may now see why.

The Husband and I decided to spend the last two weeks at our place in VT. What an interesting twist to my training it has been. I thought that, training at a higher altitude, would help my training. But it turns out you have to be at about 2500 elevation for at least three weeks for any benefit. Our place is at 2300 feet but I drive back down the mountain where it’s just a little flatter and actually doable by human standards. This takes me down to 1100 elevation. And only for two weeks… oh well.

So my poor man's Colorado didn't completely work out. However, there are enough rolling hills and steep climbs to keep one busy. I will say I do not miss all of the stair cases in my rides out of the Bronx. Here are some of the stairs cases where I have to carry my bike to get back to the path:

For these last two weeks, steep & rolling hills are a nice change of pace from the staircases of the Bronx.

I knew the pool in our building was a little shorter than 25 yards. I asked management what the actual length is and no one ever answered me. I decided to treat the pool as 25 yards anyway I figure no matter what if I spend 45 to 50 minutes in the pool the training was getting done. I have since figured out that the pool at home is about 20 yards. I have already stepped up my training in swimming this year by adding a third day. Last year I trained on a more intermediate schedule and this year is a more advanced schedule. Here in VT the pool where I swim is an actual 25 yard pool. Oh my, what a difference those 5 yards make. The swims that were taking me 40 min are taking 50-55 minutes.

The pool at Pico fitness center is awesome. It has a salt water/chlorine blend that is less harsh on the skin and swims suits. All I can think about while I am swimming is the swim in the Hudson. My longest swim this season was 3000 yards. Which I whined about getting done last Thursday. I kicked and screamed at myself during the 10 min.drive down to the pool. An hour and 20 minutes later, it was complete. I was so happy to have that swim done. Knowing that I can swim that far, I am hopeful that the swim leg of the tri will go smoothly. The last two years I have had panic attacks about 600 meters into the swim. After upping the training, I am hoping for the best.

This brings us around to the running portion of training. After the half marathon, I thought all running would be easier. What was I thinking? Before we left for VT, I still had long runs built into my training plan the equivalent of 9 miles each. I really do not like running 9 miles. I much prefer 5 and 6 miles. I ran my last of the longest runs, two weeks ago. I was so happy it was done. The run for the tri is only 6.2 but, as a personal trainer myself, I understand that you need to train longer for all the things that can go wrong on race day. At this point, I am maintaining the 6 mile runs twice week with other smaller runs built in.

This brings us to the home stretch. A brick today and my last longer swim tomorrow with one of those smaller runs to finish, let the tapering begin! 

The taper week brings with it all kinds of fun activities, the expo, the mandatory athlete briefing, bike check in and then the race itself (8/3/14). The one thing that unfortunately goes away is the eating. I will miss being able to eat whatever and whenever I please. Although, after this tri, I am doing one more sprint distance in September. I will say that it is not nearly as challenging and will not allow the reckless abandon eating to continue.

After Saturday, I will have a bit more free time on my hands.

Laura